1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to cellular telephone systems, and more particularly to a system and method of implementing service prioritization in cellular telephone systems.
2. Related Art
In conventional cellular telephone systems, call requests (which are issued to establish new telephone calls) are serviced on a first-come, first-served basis. Call requests are not prioritized based on any customer-specific criteria (such as a customer's service plan or per-call choice). It is noted that some special types of calls, such as emergency "911" calls, are serviced on a priority basis. However, the priority service granted to such calls is not based on any customer-specific criteria.
As will be appreciated, cellular telephone systems have a finite service capacity. New calls cannot be accepted if this service capacity is reached. Since call requests are serviced on a first-come, first-served basis, callers will often be denied service simply because their call requests were issued later in time than others. Clearly, the current methodology for processing call requests is arbitrary and inflexible.
Thus, what is required is an improved, flexible system and method for processing call requests in a cellular telephone system.